Ultimate Guide to Finding Clients as a Digital Nomad

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Becoming a Digital Nomad comes with a lot of questions like how do I take care of health insurance, retirement and paying taxes. But one of the MOST daunting questions is - where or how do I find clients?

Not just any clients. Clients that pay well, pay on time and can provide a steady flow of continuous work.

As a digital nomad - having a steady flow of clients is key to sustaining your dream lifestyle. In this guide, I will share actionable strategies, my favorite platform to find clients, the art of crafting a winning pitch, and my personal tips for delivering outstanding service to keep your clients happy.

This is your step-by-step guide to finding high-paying, reliable clients as a Digital Nomad:

1. Diversify where you find Clients

First, I would like to start by saying that there are so many places to find clients, from freelancing platforms to pitching your services directly to clients. The reason it is helpful to diversify is because freelancing can have surplus waves or droughts of income. By diversifying your source of clients you avoid falling into a ‘feast or famine’ cycle by ensuring no matter what is happening on one specific platform - you have other routes to clients.

One of the first things you should do is narrow down at least 2- 3 strategies to find clients and MASTER these strategies. I recommend picking one freelance platform and choosing either direct pitching or content marketing.

Pro tip: You want to avoid spreading yourself across many platforms and methods because this will prevent you from mastering your method and pitch thus slowing down your progress and effectiveness.

This blog post will focus on my favorite freelancing platform, Upwork.

(Stay tuned for upcoming blogs that will focus on direct pitching and content marketing.)

2. Into to Upwork

Next let’s review how Upwwork works.

Upwork is essentially a ‘job board’ where business owners post the jobs that they need help with.

Freelancers place ‘bids’ for these jobs.

Business owners then select candidates for interviews. And typically after 1 (2 interviews max) the business owner selects their candidate for hire.

And as a freelancer, you start working right away.

The hiring process is much quicker than the typical corporate hiring process. Fewer rounds of interviews, less wait time, and a quicker start to work time.

The drawbacks of working as a Freelancer are:

• You do not have ‘firing’ protection. Meaning that working is ‘at will’ of both parties. If the job is not working out, termination can occur with short notice.

• Taxes are not withheld from your earnings.

• There are no benefits that are paid on your behalf (i,e. health or retirement).

It sounds scary - but it is not as scary once you understand how to pay for your own health insurance, taxes, and retirement.

( Stay tuned because this will also be explored in detail soon :)

3. How to Identify Reliable and High-Paying Clients

On most freelance platforms you will find a range of low-paying to high-paying clients. It can be hard to tell who will be reliable and pay on time, every time. But there are a few indicators you can watch out for like:

• Review ratings of the client:

  • On Upwork, clients and freelancers rate each other to reflect what their working experience together was like.

  • I specifically keep an eye out for 4+ stars and above.

• Read the reviews of past freelancers who worked with a client:

  • The benefit of Upwork is you can read the history of reviews from past freelancers and see honest opinions of how it is to work with a specific client.

• Set your hourly rate during your search:

  • You can enter the minimum amount per hour you are willing to get paid. This will help filter out low-paying clients.

  • Pro tip: this is highly dependent on your niche, service, and experience. When you are first starting out it is okay to take a lower-paying client so that you can get a good review and build up your portfolio. BUT after you have completed your first job - RAISE YOUR RATES!

• Look up Clients for reliability:

  • Things like their online presence, professional websites, content and branding are giveaways to clients that are established. Established clients tend to be more reliable than new businesses.

• Look for long-term opportunities:

  • Clients seeking longer-term opportunities are absolutely going to provide the security of a long-term project. If you see clients that offer a lot of one-off contracts, chances are you may also be a short-term hire.

4. How to Propose your Services

After you have identified a potential job and a great client - Now is your chance to submit a Proposal (aka bid) and win the contract. A proposal is similar to a cover letter, where you describe why you are a great fit for a job.

These are my suggestions on what to include in your Proposal to land an interview and win the contract:

1. Personalize EVERY proposal

2. Copy and pasting is not going to cut it here. You need to speak to the Client’s requests of what they want - and tailor your past experiences in how you can fill this need.

3. Highlight your Expertise

   • Clients are seeking to work with EXPERTS. Freelancers that are the BEST at what they do.

   • Pro tip: Highlight the RESULTS of what you can deliver. Provide stats/ data where you can. Really paint the picture here of the transformation you will provide.

4. Keep it Concise:

   • Business owners are busy. They do not have time to read your 7 paragraph proposal. So keep it short and sweet. Deliver your best sentences right at the start of your proposal to gain their intrigue to keep reading all the way through.

5. End your proposal with a Call to Action:

   • End your proposal with a CONFIDENT call to action.

   • This is an example of what I say:
     ”I’d love to chat further about this role, do you have time available next week for a call? -Priscilla”

   • You want to end with a direct request of what you are seeking and be confident in yourself, your services, and what you offer.

Upwork offers their own tips on how to land clients

→ check out this article to learn directly from Upwork on how to win clients in 2025.

5. Deliver Exceptional Services

Delivering EXCEPTIONAL services is a MUST as a freelancer for so many reasons:

• When you complete contracts, clients can review your work on Freelancing platforms. When you are attempting to apply for new proposals, the first thing new clients will look at is your reviews.

• Providing excellent services builds referrals. If you do an amazing job for a client, they are likely to share with another business owner the great work you did. This is the perfect way to bring clients and future business directly to you.

Some of my tips for delivering great work are:

1. Go the Extra Mile:

   • Offer suggestions or insights to improve your clients business. Find a way to add value beyond the contracts scope. This little suggestions go a long way and show you are thinking about the client beyond yourself and the present contract.

2. Communicate regularly:

   • Keep clients updated on milestones and timelines. Clear communication builds trust and minimizes misunderstandings.

3. Meet Deadlines WITHOUT exception:

   • Being reliable is a KEY trait of a great freelancer. If you promise a deadline, do everything in your power to stick to it.

   • Always deliver quality work on time or ahead of schedule.

Building a thriving digital nomad career takes more than just landing projects - it is about securing and nurturing the right clients for long-term success.

And while freelancing may seem scary - it depends on your perspective.

The ability to work from anywhere in the world. Choose who you work with. When you work. And where you work is the trade-off from working in corporate America - where you have a boss that dictates your working hours, being in-office, and working towards their bottom line.

My hope for you is that you challenge the norm.

Consider the possibility that there have been many before you who learned how to work for themselves.

If they were able to figure it out, so can you ♡

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